As the holiday season has commenced, we've noticed an interesting trend this year in video holiday cards created by YouTube users. Take a look at the search interest chart for "holiday cards" on YouTube spanning back to October of 2008. There's always been a sizeable spike around Christmas, but that spike has nearly doubled this year compared to last. (Searches for "christmas card" are showing a similar pattern.)

First, there's the e-card variety that are meant to be shared with friends and family. Video e-cards posted by comedian/puppeteer Jeff Dunham (example above) have drawn over 700,000 views so far this season, and others by Grolsch and BMW have also been popular.